A Colorado prison inmate who has been the subject of intense media interest since the shooting death of Department of Corrections Executive Director Tom Clements has been moved into an isolation cell for his own protection, officials said Thursday.

"This is because of the increased attention in the media," said Alison Morgan, spokeswoman for the DOC. "He is not being punished. He was removed from population for his own safety."

Clements' shooting death at his Monument home occurred a week after he denied a request by the inmate, Homaidan al-Turki, to serve out the remainder of a Colorado prison sentence in his native Saudi Arabia. Clements had cited the offender's refusal to undergo sex-offender treatment.

Al-Turki, a well-known member of Denver's Muslim community, was convicted in 2006 of charges including unlawful sexual contact by use of force and sentenced to 28 years to life in prison. Prosecutors said al-Turki kept a housekeeper a virtual slave for four years in his home and sexually assaulted her. A judge reduced the sentence to eight years to life. Al-Turki insisted the case was politically motivated.

Al-Turki's conviction angered Saudi officials and prompted the U.S. State Department to send Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Abdullah, Crown Prince Sultan and al-Turki's family.

Morgan said DOC's decision to move al-Turki away from other prisoners at Limon Correctional Facility, a high-security facility, was not directly related to the Clements murder investigation.

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Sgt. Joe Roybal, spokesman for the El Paso County Sheriff's Department, declined to say whether the circumstances of al-Turki's case prompted an investigation in the murder case.

He added Thursday that there are no suspects in Clements' murder case and officials do not know what the motive was.

"We haven't excluded any possibilities nor do we want to focus on one or two," Roybal said.

Mike Knight, chief investigator for the Arapahoe County District Attorney's office, said the prosecutors who worked on the al-Turki case and other high-profile investigations are taking increased security measures as a result of the slaying.

"Out of an abundance of caution for the attorneys who worked on those cases, we wanted to make sure that they take precautions," Knight said.

El Paso County sheriff's investigators met Thursday morning to pore over any tips and leads that may have developed overnight in the Clements' case.

Roybal said investigators have not yet found a dark, "boxy" vehicle seen near the Clements home in Monument at the time of the shooting.

Just hours before he was killed, Clements posted a Craigslist ad for a $1,200 Kona Hei Hei 29er bike that included a photo of the bicycle in his circular driveway.

The seller was listed as "Tom," who provided a phone number with an area code from Missouri, where Clements had worked in corrections previously.

Kramer on Thursday said authorities were continuing to interview a wide range of people inside and outside the Department of Corrections, though he would not be more specific.

"It's an all-inclusive type of scenario," Kramer said.

By the end of Wednesday, scores of law enforcement officers from a variety of state and federal agencies, including the FBI and U.S. Marshals office, had joined in the intensive manhunt.

He said he did not know what direction the investigation would head. Nor was he sure whether police had recovered any pertinent surveillance footage from inside the sprawling mountain neighborhood or from a nearby shopping center.

The car being sought may be a dark-colored Lincoln or a Cadillac. A witness reported seeing a light green glow coming from the dashboard. The car was last seen Tuesday night traveling west on Higby Road before turning south onto Jackson Creek Parkway. Anyone who may have seen a car matching this description is asked to call authorities at 719-390-5555.

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